Feb
27
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
In a powerful and comprehensive report, the global human rights organization Amnesty International has sharply criticized Israeli soldiers for their reckless use of force in putting down nonthreatening Palestinian demonstrations. The report calls on Israel to stop using lethal force against Palestinian demonstrators and rescind military orders that reject Palestinian rights to freedom of expression and assembly. It also called on the Palestinian Authority and the PLO to “sign and ratify, without reservations, international human rights treaties including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.â€
Publishing a damning report on Israel at a time when the world is busy with Syria and Ukraine will no doubt help shift attention back to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It also adds a powerful element to the political discussion, namely the need for Western powers to stop selling weapons to Israel because of its flagrant violation of human rights and its war crimes that have been taking place undetected. The fact that a major international organization like Amnesty International is supporting the weapons boycott of Israel is a major political breakthrough.
The 87-page research report, citing UN figures, titled “Trigger-Happy, Israel’s Use of Excessive Force in the West Bank,” reveals the Israeli military’s disregard for Palestinian human life. It includes field investigations of 22 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank killed by Israeli soldiers in 2013. A further 261 Palestinians, among them 67 children, were injured by live ammunition in the period 2011-13. The number of killings and injuries in 2013 were a sharp increase of previous years. Most of the cases documented involved young people below the age of 25, and included four children. Continue Reading »
Feb
27
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
The current Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, planned to last nine months, have one month left to produce a peace treaty. Palestinian officials are on record as refusing to extend the talks, while the Israelis are sending clear messages that they want the talks to be extended. In a statement made to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the presidential spokesman outlined two issues that the Palestinians have a problem with.
“We will not accept a Palestinian state without East Jerusalem as its capital. We will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state,” Nabil Abu Rdeineh, the official spokesperson of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted as saying.
While Abu Rdeineh highlighted these two hot button issues, a more serious discussion is going on behind the scenes about the issue of land swaps. Ever since the Camp David II summit, while Palestinians have consistently called for the 1967 borders to be the perimeter of their state, Abbas and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat both publicly and privately have accepted the idea of land swaps. Continue Reading »
Feb
24
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team seem to have a very clear idea of what they want in the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. But the general public seems lost trying to figure out exactly what he is after.
A close and thorough analysis of publicly available information, plus knowledge of the area and the political maneuverability of the main players, leads to a deceptively simple conclusion. Kerry and peace envoy Martin Indyk are clearly not after an agreement that will end the conflict once and for all. This was the goal demanded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak during the Clinton-led Camp David II effort, which ended in failure.
At the same time, it is clear that neither the Americans nor the Israelis want to repeat Israel’s unilateral military actions in South Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, moves that were rejected by the other side, lacked international backing and failed to provide peace or quiet. Instead, it appears that the US team is after something less than a contract to end the conflict: a set of actions that both sides privately agree to and will not derail.
The idea of a unilateral agreement sounds contradictory. But if one can be reached, it would ease points of tension in the occupied territories, lessen the space that Israel commits not to further settle and slowly prepare the public for a much later deal. Continue Reading »
Feb
20
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators might have stumbled across two powerful weapons that could help them convince their publics to support a compromise peace agreement — political exhaustion and apathy.
While the issues surrounding the peace talks, such as refugees and Jerusalem, are emotional triggers that easily move public opinion, the parties to the decades-old conflict appear to be slogging through a period of political fatigue. Hot button items that would usually bring crowds into the streets and force politicians to backtrack are not producing these effects.
On the Israeli side, the public is enjoying an unprecedented calm in terms of security, and an economic boom has made many Israelis seeming apathetic to the comings and goings of politicians and negotiators. On the Palestinian side, the continued occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, coupled with the implosion of major Arab countries, seem to have had a discouraging effect on the public mood.
The reaction to the conciliatory speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to a group of 300 Israeli students on Feb. 16 is a perfect example of how this exhaustion is playing out. A review of media reactions and interviews with opinion makers illustrates this point. Continue Reading »
Feb
20
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
When Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met with 300 Israeli university students in Ramallah on Feb. 16, he accomplished more than one goal. He simultaneously sent a powerful message of peace to the Israeli public while indicating to his own people, and the region as a whole, the areas where Palestinian negotiators are willing to compromise.
The visit, which had been planned for last December but was postponed for logistical reasons, was organized by One Voice, an international organization whose mission is to “amplify the voices of Palestinians and Israelis.†The students chosen to attend were selected from 1,000 applicants who had written essays about why they would like to meet with the Palestinian leader.
Among the most highly quoted statements was Abbas’ insistence that he does not plan to “drown” Israel with refugees. This statement came after Labor Party Knesset member Hilik Bar, born in Safad, invited the Palestinian leader to visit his birthplace as a “tourist.â€Â Abbas had previously said that he has no plans to return to the city where he was born.
In his talk to the Israeli students, Abbas covered almost all the issues of contention, including Jerusalem, water, borders, settlements, incitement to violence and recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. In his answers, the Palestinian leader was honest and persuasive. For example, he admitted without reservation or explanation that the Palestinian media and school books do include “incitement,” but argued that Israelis also “incite” against Palestinians. In order to deal with both, he argued, a third party, the United States, could be the judge as to what is and what is not considered incitement. Continue Reading »
Feb
20
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s days in office are numbered, according to reliable sources in the Muqata (headquarters). The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Al-Monitor that for a convergence of reasons they expect Hamdallah to be replaced by President Mahmoud Abbas within a month.
The addition of prime minister to Abbas’ set of titles — president of Palestine and chairman of the PLO — would be in accordance with the Doha Agreement reached with the Islamist movement Hamas in February 2012 and a prelude to possible presidential and parliamentary elections.
While the change of prime minister will most certainly be in compliance with the reconciliation agreement, other problems are brewing within the Palestinian leadership that may contribute to Hamdallah’s early departure.
A major dispute between the prime minister and Minister of Waqf (Religious Endowments) Mahmoud al-Habbash has received media attention. Habbash, who has extremely close ties to Abbas, angered Hamdallah regarding the status of income that is collected on behalf of the Islamic waqf. Habbash refused to turn over monies collected for rent of waqf properties, citing religious reasons. Continue Reading »
Feb
16
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
The seriousness of the U.S.-initiated framework for a possible solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem appears to have shaken dormant relations in the region, including in Jordan.
The Palestinian-Jordanian relationship, which is experiencing its highest degree of cooperation and mutual trust, is being put to the test.
The challenges facing this important relationship stem from identity issues that have plagued Jordan for decades but which have been pushed under the rug.
Jordanian politicians, pundits, journalists and even government officials are expressing different degrees of concern and worry regarding the aftermath of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry plan, even though information about the plan is very sketchy.
The potential of solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has resurrected badly needed discussion about political reform, which was delayed until the resolution of the Palestinian cause.
The refugee issue is perhaps the most important part of this discussion. Two million registered refugees in Jordan are the biggest single group of Palestinian refugees in the world. Their case is even more complicated by the fact that they are also full Jordanian citizens, though not equitably represented in Parliament as a result of large-scale gerrymandering. Continue Reading »
Feb
16
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
An interesting development is taking places in Jordan: Forty years after the Rabat Summit, which declared the PLO as the “sole legitimate representative” of the Palestinian people, one aspect of representation is being challenged.
Jordanian officials, including the prime minister, the speaker of the Parliament and the foreign minister, were recently quoted as demanding a greater role for Jordan in the peace talks.
In addition to insistence on a role on the future of Jerusalem, Jordanian officials are saying that no final status agreement regarding refugees can be finalised without Jordan’s say.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has over two million registered Palestinian refugees, and many more unregistered.
According to the Parliament Speaker Atef Tarawneh, since Jordan gave these Palestinian refugees citizenship, it should have a say in their future, whether in terms of return or compensation, or both.
Jordan also insists that as a host country to 42 per cent of the world’s Palestinian refugees, its decades old effort must be recognised and compensated.
Perhaps the official Jordanian position on the Palestinian refugees was best summarised by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh’s statement when he chaired the UN Security Council this week:Â “Most of the refugees on our territory are Jordanian citizens in addition to their status as refugees, and it lies at the heart of our responsibilities to protect and restore their legitimate rights recognised by the international terms of reference pertaining to the peace process. As a host country, we, in turn, have rights for the burdens we have shouldered.” Continue Reading »
Feb
16
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
The most essential role of the position of a vice president is to allow for a smooth transition in case the president becomes incapacitated. In many autocratic systems, presidents are afraid to appoint a vice president precisely for that reason. Palestine had not been an exception to this, until now.
Abbas was elected Palestinian president in 2005, after Arafat’s death and following a 60-day transitional period led by the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Rauhi Fatouh. The 78-year-old Abbas has dropped no hints about a preferred successor, but he has approved a legal research process to create such a position.The Palestinian Basic Law, a sort of temporary constitution, does not reference a position of vice president in any of its articles. Palestine’s first president, Yasser Arafat, never had a vice president, but he did anoint Mahmoud Abbas, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, as his No. 2.
While article 34 of the Basic Law allows for a sitting president to make temporary laws, it is believed that creating the position of vice president requires a vote by the currently inactive PLC. The problem is further compounded by the last elected speaker of the Palestinian legislature, Abdel Aziz Dweik, being a strong supporter of Hamas. Continue Reading »
Feb
16
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki is willing to visit Iran if he receives an official invitation. In an exclusive interview, he told Al-Monitor: “If an official invitation is directed to me, I will accept it. If they choose to invite the president, I would go and prepare for such an official visit.â€
Concerning peace talks with Israel, the top Palestinian diplomat reiterated his support for a third-party force to replace the Israeli army “anywhere†in the occupied territories. The comment came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly rejected the idea of NATO forces replacing Israeli troops in the occupied Palestinian territories, but said he would consider a third-party force.Malki’s public openness to the Islamic Republic followed a high-level January visit by Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub to Tehran, where he met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Although Malki said Rajoub’s visit was not officially sanctioned by the ministry, he is open to further engagement with Iran.
Malki also defended the ministerial visits from the Ramallah government to Damascus as necessary to remain neutral in the Syrian conflict, saying, “We need to keep our neutrality and make sure that our people are not drawn into the violence. That is why it is imperative that we have good relations with all sides.†Continue Reading »
